We are honoured to have been invited to be part of this historic moment in MENtal Health progress in Canada. The first ever Men's Mental Health Awareness Day proclaimed in Ottawa and actioned by Jean-Francois Claude, a graduate of the Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic's M4 program. Thank you, J.F. and may this initiative grow into a [...]
Building Safeness: How to get intimate with our inner critic
We all want to feel safe. It's important. When we feel safe, we feel confident and more willingly open ourselves to new experiences. In fact, feeling safe leads to the willingness to take risks - to risk being known, being seen, loving and feeling loved. As we encounter the world in all its various ways of [...]
A Complaint-Free World: The deepest practice of compassion
Stop complaining? No way. It's how we vent, share our pain, give voice to injustices! But is it? Recently, a dear colleague and friend got me into this practice of being complaint-free. It's a program started by Will Bowen who was encouraging his congregation to develop a new habit. It takes 21-days to form a [...]
On the origins of my journey to recovery…
A powerful story of meeting depression with openness and courage.
(Originally published in April 2013 at MensDepression.org.)
In the late Spring of 2012, I went to see my General Practitioner (GP) after a nine-year hiatus. I was physically healthy throughout my thirties, and simply did not see a need for any kind of medical check-up.
What finally prompted me to make the call, and virtually beg my doctor’s office to take me back as a patient, was self-diagnosed professional burnout. I’d been burning the candle at both ends for so long, that I’d finally hit a wall after a string of 60 to 70 hour work weeks. The BlackBerry was, for years, a permanent fixture in my hand, and unplugging, even for just a few hours, was to my mind not even a remote possibility and simply unfathomable.
Imagine my state of shock when my GP promptly informed me that “burnout” was not a medical condition and that in…
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Interview with Ted Meissner of Present Moment – Mindfulness Practice and Science
We enjoyed being interviewed by Ted Meissner of Present Moment: Mindfulness Practice and Science. Lots of fun and even let slip a secret or two about how mindfulness has helped us in our own lives! You can listen to the podcast here, along with a number of other excellent interviews.
Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic 